Engineers at several NASA centers built the Orion test article that has many of the design features and the same mass as the capsule that will carry crew. This test scheduled for 2 July 2019 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is designed to focus on Orion’s launch abort capabilities, and all required data will be captured by the data recorders, so the crew module used for Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test will not deploy parachutes after the abort system is jettisoned or fire thrusters to orient the capsule for splashdown. A separate test series is focused on certifying the parachute system in various conditions. (Graphic credit: NASA)